I actually do have a Patreon account (it's what I was actively doing before I joined STEEM). I am probably both a creator and a patron, though right now I am not subscribing to anyone and no one is subscribing to me.
The way I've noticed Patreon works best is if you have previous work you've done on the internet, say a free webcomic, and then open up a Patreon page and get some of those who follow your other work to come and pay for something, generally behind the scenes kind of things or some sort of special commission.
In my case, I was hoping to build the following on Patreon, and then discovered there's not a good way for that to happen. The discovery options tend to favor those who are already making some money, rather than those with newer content.
For what it's worth, my username is Misses, named after the comic book series I was trying to promote.
Oh, good. Now, I understand patreon better from the creator point of view. How much did it cost you to be a creator?
Well, it's been a while since I did this, but I'm not remembering there being a cost at signup. There are percentages from the subscriptions that Patreon takes, for itself and your payment preference—say PayPal—and they take those fees accordingly. So, if you have a $5 subscription, after Patreon takes their part and pays for the money to be deposited somewhere, it comes out less. In my case, I ended up with $4.37 for every $5 made, which isn't horrible. It's just not free. :)
Thank you.